March 24, 2012

Elle's Studio is celebrating their 5th birthday and giving away a free, special pen with every order in March.

Here is a layout I did for the Sketch Thursday Blog post, using the packaging from the pennants and tags! I love how every little piece in your package can be made useful in creating something you love! :)

Be sure to stop by the March Gallery and check out what all the Talented Designers have created!

So tell me, which of the FABULOUS Elle's Studio products do you love? Just leave a comment here, and on every blog you stop, and you will be entered for a chance to win a $20 Gift Certificate to Elle's Studio. Each of us will be drawing a random winner on Monday the 26th.

Each blog you visit and leave some love, gives you a bigger chance of winning goodies...so be sure to have fun, and GOOD LUCK! xx

So today, we had a very snowy wet day, so I decided today was the day to try these cookies out. After all, New York Times rates it as the BEST...so it must be right?

I learned a few new tricks too with baking, that really excited me!

1. I didn't know that the difference with different flours, was the amount of protien in it. Interesting.

2. If you can't find pastry flour, you can substitute it with 1c. of cake flour and 2c. of All Purpose flour. (I found this out by googling it.)

3. No need to double this recipe because this makes a HUGE batch of cookies!

4. Yes...refrigerating the dough prior, to baking, for 24 hours does make a difference in the baking!

5. When you bite into them, they are light and crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Melt in your mouth GOODNESS! :)

6. I will no longer be making any other chocolate chip cookies again...these are the BEST!

7. I didn't add walnuts to the recipe, but I did place some on top of about 1/2 of the cookies, because I LOVE walnuts in my cookies. So good!

8. The Chocolate DOES matter too! I used the best quality Chocolate block and did as they suggested with chopping it. I put the block in the microwave for 30 seconds to soften it just a bit, it made such a difference with being able to chop the chocolate easier.

March 15, 2012

Hey everyone! I have been playing around with making this fun flower, based on a tutorial that my sweet friend Valerie made using fabric. I tried it with paper and LOVE the results, so I thought I would share it with you all here.

So to begin, you will want to have your glue gun and your favorite circle punch handy (Any size will do). Collect your favorite papers and you are ready to go.

Punch 10 circles out, and wet them down. Pat them dry and let them air dry so they are just damp. I found that when the paper is damp, it makes it a lot easier to mold and shape it.

Fold your circles in half and apply a small amount of hot glue inside at the crease.

Fold your half circle one more time and apply another small amount of hot glue

Then, you will smoosh the sides slightly so that it opens up slightly. Do this with 9 circles you have pre-punched.

After you have all of your circles folded and ready to go, you can arrange them on one of the circles.

Apply a drop of hot glue in the center of the circle that you are going to be placing 4 of your folded circles on. For the second layer, you will stagger them on top of the first layer. When you have 8 of them in place, it should look something like this...

To finish these fun flowers off, you will want to use your last folded circle, and cut the tip of it off like this...

Then, you will apply a small amount of hot glue on the end like so...

Place it in the center of your stacked flower circle and then use your fingers to kind of smoosh the paper to get a curled up edge effect.

If you want, you can also use other embellishments for the center as well. Here is an example of using a simple punched circle and button with a twine bow.

So there you have it! I just love the looks of these on a layout! They are so much fun! :)

See you all Saturday! I have a fun post planned to share with a chance for an AWESOME prize too! With Easter almost here...it's a perfect time for a HOP don't you think?